Device and wall of buildings foe preventing damage to goods by water



THOMAS ESTLACK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DEVICE AND WALL OF BUILDINGS FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO GOODS BY WATER IN CASE OF FIRES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 15,002, dated June 3, 1856.

To all wh-0m t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS EsTLAox, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Device for Preventing Damage to Goods by IVater in Cases of Fire; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part of this specification, said drawing being a vertical section of a portion of a building and showing my improvement.

The object of my invention is to restrict the damage by water, in cases of fire, to the story into which the water is thrown.

The invention is designed to be used in connection with a mode of securing wash boards, patented by me June 5th 1855, whereby the wash board is made to follow the Hoor in all its movements, and leakage between the wash board and floor thus prevented; this port-ion of my system being for confining the water to the floor upon which it is thrown. The invention here considered is to furnish a method of drawing off the water thus received and retained.

It consists in placing within the outer wall of the building, a shallow receiver whose upper edge is slightly below the surface of the floor to be relieved; said receiver narrowing to the outer face of the wall, and there covered by a flap valve; this receiver being` combined with an inclined chute secured to the floor and wash board, and extending over and into the aforesaid receiver, so that the liquid contents of the room will pass through the opening in the wash board, along the chute, to the receiver, and thence flow to the street. This combination of chute and receiver allows the movemment which the floor will necessarily have, without any injury to the discharging powers of this apparatus.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents one of the external walls of a building; and B, represents one of the floorings, C, represents a box which may be constructed of cast or sheet metal. This box is fitted in the wall, A, so that its top is a short distance below the surface of the flooring, B. The box has a spout, C1, on its outer side which passes entirely through the wall, and has a valve, m, on its outer end, the valve being attached by a hinge or joint, (051,) to the upper edge of the spout. The box may be of any proper size, say from two to four feet in length and from eight to eighteen inches in width, according to the size of the building'.

D represents a chute made of cast or sheet metal, and secured to the floor by a fla-nge, (as shown in drawing BX) and also fastened to the wash board E, which is cut o-ut to form the mouth of the chute. The inclined portion of the chute extends over and into the receiver, having no connection whatever with the same. By this construction the movement of the chute by the rising or sinking of t-he floor, will not affect the passage of water from off the floor. One or more of the boxes or chutes may be placed within the walls of the building around each ooring, and the floorings should be slightly inclined toward the chutes` 'From the above description it will be seen that when water is thrown into the story of a building, the water instead of passing through the floor into the story beneath will pass through the chute, D, into the receiver or box, C, and pass through the spout, O2, into the street or yard, the water raising the valve, (a).

The above invention will prevent, to a great extent, the damage of goods, furniture, etc., by water thrown into buildings to extinguish lires. As a general thing the goods that are not consumed are at present destroyed or materially damaged by the water, and all the water that is thrown into the upper story of a building descends through the several floors to the cellar, destroying or damaging in its descent all the goods in the building. My invention obviates this difficulty and limits the damage to the story in which the lire originates, or into which water is thrown.

I disclaim all discharge chutes where a continuous and connected surface is employed, such as is shown in the arrangeceiver, secured to the Hoor to be relieved, and altogether detached from the aforesaid Butreceiver, as and for the purposes set forth.

I claim as new and of my own invention- The combination of the receiver C in the masonry of the Wall as described, With the chute D extending over and into the re- THOS. ESTLACK. Witnesses:

WVM. TUSCHE, JAMES D. BUCKLEY. 

